The skeletal remains found by a work crew in Frederick in August near New Design Road have been identified as a missing Springfield, Va., man, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

Oscar Velasco Montano, 30, went missing on July 9, 2011, in Virginia, and his family reported it two days later, according to Officer Bud Walker, a spokesman for Fairfax police.

“We’re investigating it as a potential homicide at this point,” Walker said. “We don’t have a lot of new information.”

Walker said Fairfax police became involved in the investigation shortly after the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office began trying to identify the remains last summer. He said the two agencies would continue to collaborate on the investigation.

Bruce Goldfarb, a spokesman for the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore, said that the case had been ruled a homicide, but declined to discuss any further details, including the cause of death, because the crime is still under investigation.

Cpl. Jennifer Bailey, spokeswoman for the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, deferred all questions about the case to Fairfax police. However, she confirmed that the sheriff’s office was still assisting in the investigation.

The remains were discovered by workers with a tree-trimming service on Aug. 8 in a wooded area near the 4100 block of New Design Road, next to remnants of a campfire.

An employee with the tree-trimming service Asplundh was working in a wooded area about 15 yards from the road at about 5:15 p.m. when he discovered the remains on the ground.